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Reader challenge: Privacy test

In the aftermath of so many revelations about computer privacy this
year, I thought it might be interesting to put your own privacy to the
test. Earlier this year I found myself shopping for camping tents on
Amazon.com, but I did not make a purchase. Shortly thereafter, I
noticed that the camping tents I had studied for a longer time began
showing up in banner ads in various websites, and even in ads along my
Facebook wall. I wasn’t shocked to see this because I am well aware
that a multitude of cookies pay close attention to my web surfing
habits and target me accordingly.

This observation prompted me to conduct a more dramatic test in which
I sent my wife an email message (using all of my active email
accounts) stating that “I was thinking about purchasing a Rolex watch
for our son on his birthday,” and I then waited to see if Rolex
watches were mentioned in any website banner ads. To my amazement, I
started receiving junk email messages promoting Rolex watches, an
example of which is shown on the next page.

I’ve often preached that you should assume 1,000 people are
reading each email message you send or receive, because all of your
unencrypted email messages (along with any unencrypted attachments)
are vulnerable to peering hackers. This email may offer proof that at
least one person is harvesting and exploiting my emails.

So here’s the privacy test I propose: Send an email mentioning a
retail item (preferably an item not normally associated with you), and
then pay attention to your banner ads and junk email messages for a
week to see if that item is mentioned in any of your emails or webpage
banner ads. The results you see may provide clues as to your level of
personal privacy. If you care to share those results with others (no
matter the outcome), post them on this website that I created to
capture your results: tinyurl.com/n7s99ws. (You may
submit results anonymously.) I will compile the results and post them
on this same website.

The challenges of the new lease accounting standard have been pervasive to say the least. In this free, independently-written report, you'll learn effective adoption strategies as well as resources for easing the transition to the new standard.